Triple Crown of Hiking
The Triple Crown of Hiking informally refers to the three major U.S. long distance hiking trails:
- Pacific Crest Trail - 2,654 miles (4,270 km) long,[1] Washington, Oregon, and California between Mexico and Canada following the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range.
- Appalachian Trail - 2,184 miles (3,515 km), between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine.[2]
- Continental Divide Trail - 3,100 miles (5,000 km), between Mexico and Canada following the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountains and traversing Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.[3]
The total length of the three trails is about 7,900 miles (12,700 km); vertical gain is more than 1,000,000 feet (300,000 m) (190 miles). A total of 22 states are visited if the three trails are completed.[4] The American Long Distance Hiking Association - West (ALDHA-WEST) is the only organization that recognizes this hiking feat. At the ALDHA-West Gathering, held each fall, the Triple Crown honorees are recognized and awarded plaques noting their achievement. As of October 2012, 174 hikers have been designated Triple Crowners.[5]
Reed Gjonnes, age 13, is the youngest to have completed the Triple Crown. Along with her father, she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2011,[6] the Appalachian Trail in 2012,[7] and the Continental Divide Trail in 2013.[8]
Contents
History
The first person to ever achieve The Triple Crown of Hiking was Eric Ryback. Ryback completed the Appalachian Trail in 1969 as a 16-year-old. He completed the Pacific Crest Trail in 1970 and chronicled it in his 1971 book The High Adventure of Eric Ryback: Canada to Mexico on Foot. Ryback completed the Continental Divide Trail in 1972 and chronicled it in his second book, The Ultimate Journey (now out of print).
Back to Back
The first person to walk the Triple Crown back to back was Matthew Hazley from Northern Ireland, who took 239 days in 2005.[9]
The Super Triple Crown (Three-Headed Snake)
The new, more advanced Triple Crown of Hiking extends beyond the US, with two of the three routes reaching into Canada. The "Three-Headed Snake" comprises the Eastern Continental Trail, the Sea-to-Sea Route and the Great Western Loop. No one has completed all three routes to this point, though all three have been thru-hiked at least once. Andrew Skurka is the only person to successfully thru-hike the Sea-to-Sea Route or the Great Western Loop, having done so in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
The Quad
The US Hiking Quad consists of the country's four longest trails. This includes the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the North Country Trail.
See also
- National Millennium Trails, 16 long-distance trails selected to reflect defining aspects of U.S. history and culture
- Long-distance trails in the United States
- European long-distance paths, 11 European long-distance paths
References
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- ↑ Gailey, Chris (2006). "Appalachian Trail FAQs" Outdoors.org (accessed September 14, 2006)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ "Triple Crown", American Long Distance Hiking Association - West
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- ↑ http://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/adventure/0604/whats_new/matthew_hazley.html
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